Peacock
by BlueNBlackRoses
Summary: This prison they call Deadman Wonderland, it will never break me and it will never kill me. Not until I find you and set you free...my brother. Senji/Crow OC -ON HIATUS DUE TO COLLEGE
1. Chapter 1

Alright my lovelies~ Welcome to my new Senji story! *woohoo fanfare* Yes, I know, such a glorious thing. I am new to Deadman Wonderland, but Senji is one of those people I couldn't resist, so here we are! Peacock! Read, review, enjoy!

Disclaimer- I don't own Senji or any character in Deadman Wonderland or Deadman Wonderland, I own the OC, that's all.

Now normally I don't do this but I couldn't for the life of me figure out a way to incorporate the looks of the OC into the actual story so here we are with her pretty little profile.

Name- Mai (You will learn her last name later)

Age- 21

Hair- Dark brown, goes down a little past her shoulders, very straight with no waves at all, she does have bangs that swoop to the side

Eyes- Grayish Blue

* * *

Menacing heels clicked down the hallway before the creaking of a door was opening. Such a strange room this was, filled to the brim with toys that a man his age shouldn't be playing with. Actually, a man his age shouldn't be caught dead with any of them around.

"Tamaki, we have a new prisoner coming in." Makina, she was the chief warden of this place, and whether you are a child or about to rot from old age, she would not hesitate to put you in your place if she deemed it necessary. She put down a brown folder that held the contents of the new prisoner onto his desk, and waited for his response.

"We get new prisoners everyday, this doesn't interest me." Pushing the folder away he spun in his chair to stare at the assortment of toys he had scattered about his 'office', his eyes already filling with a cheerfulness that he and only he could demonstrate. Makina though wasn't swayed by his passive personality and instead was insulted, her own eyes squinting in aggravation. It wasn't everyday she waltzed into his office to say that there was a new prisoner, this one was special and deserved his attention.

"Well then...get interested and read it while I go brief the newbie's. And send Rei to escort her once I'm finished." She left his office with a curt slam of the door while Tamaki let out a sigh. Opening up the folder, his brows curves with interest as he read over the file.

"Well, aren't you special, Miss Mai? I'm sure that you will be a wonderful plaything for me." He let out a rather demented chuckle while picking up the phone, calling the sadistic doctor to be there once the new one was briefed.

* * *

I listen closely as the heels of the warden click in front of us, the scared whispers of the people next to me, and the thumping of my own erratic heartbeat. Never had I thought I would end up here, in Deadman Wonderland, but there's a reason that I'm here. And that one reason will drive me until I either die, or I set him free.

"Alright you newbie's, listen up. Welcome to Deadman Wonderland, your new home for the rest of you pathetic lives, considering your death row inmates. That is unless you somehow manage to earn enough cast point to pay off your sentence. You were each given a survival bag and if you're good, it'll last you three days, if not, you better earn yourself some cast points fast. And before you depart to your cell a quick word about your collars. Not only are they Deadman Wonderlands way of tagging and tracking inmates, they are also your personal death. If you fail to eat your candy every three days, the poison that is constantly being pumped through your system will kill you. Any questions?" She placed her hands on her hips and eyed us all seriously, waiting to see who was brave enough to even speak out. It was almost like a challenge was being issued.

"Good, follow the guard and he'll show you your cell." She told us, placing her hands on her curvy hips.

We all began to do as we were told but a long silver sword was cast out in front of me, stopping me dead on my feet from sheer shock. I was lucky that I didn't completely topple over. My grayish blue eyes widened and followed from the tip of the sword all the way to the owner.

"Have I done something already?" I asked, staring her down as she was me. I already didn't like her and it was obvious that she didn't like me. Though my heart was still beating like a drum, she was no doubt someone I surely didn't want to tussle with.

"No, you're not going with them. You a bit more...special." Wow, seemed like it pained her to say that. But what was she talking about? There was nothing special about me? I'm a horrible singer, an awful dancer, and you really didn't want to try my cooking.

All the other prisoners looked at me like I was some kind of freak, heh, if they only knew the truth. I suppose they were already accusing me of getting a five star treatment or something. From the side I saw a woman dressed like a doctor walking down the hallway in a sultry pace. She walked over to us and stopped in front of me, giving me a small smile of kindness while cocking her head to the side a bit.

"Hello Mai, my name is Rei. I'm here to escort you to your cell and give you the possible rundown in case you aren't aware of everything." This was a strange woman; she seemed too nice to be working in a place like Deadman Wonderland. Her short brown bob and almost perfectly placed mole gave her the picture of beauty. But I could see past all of that, he eyes held a secret longing for watching others in pain, you'd have to be blind to not see that.

"Nice to meet you." Yes I was a little skeptical about this whole thing but who was I to complain. I was a prisoner for goodness sakes! She began to walk away, turning her head slightly and beckoning me to follow like the sad little puppy I truly was.

"Oh, right." I followed after her and we weaved through hallways after hallways until the area began to look a little more...degraded? Would that be the appropriate word to use for the declining beauty of this place?

"Before we get you to your cell I must warn you. You're the first new Deadman we've had in awhile that's a woman. So for the time being you'll be staying with a roommate while a room is being prepared, hope you don't mind."

Deadman? What the heck was that? "What do you mean by Deadman?" She stopped in the middle of the hall and turned around to face me, giving out a sigh before another smile was upon her round face. She put her hand on her hips and gave me the world famous, really look.

"Mai, you didn't really think that we didn't know. The way you killed that rapist, it was too obvious to ignore. Besides, the scarring on the tips of you fingers are proof enough." My eyes widened in shock from what she was telling me. Does that mean she knows what I can do? She knows about my blood?

"What, did you really think that you were the only one of your kind? Please, you're mistaken. Now come on, you have to meet Senji." She continued walking but I was still flat footed in my own spot. Senji? That sounds like the name of a...of a...boy. Oh lord.

"Hmm, what's wrong Mai? You're frozen in place." She pointed out, coming back over to me and then giving me a slight tug on my arm. She even let a small giggle escape. "Don't tell me you're shy, well if that's the case then you two should get along perfectly." She pushed me along until we stopped in front of a door. You know, just an ordinary door, nothing special about it.

She knocked a few times before the door swung open, revealing the most...athletic...man I had ever seen. He was tan with dark hair that spiked backwards in odd strands. He wore a patch over his right eye, and had a tattoo of the letters DSMK above his right eyebrow, and for his clothing he had a pair of pants and a coat-shirt-thing that left the imagination to run wild for he didn't wear a shirt underneath.

"Hello Senji, I just thought you would like to know that you have a new roommate until another cell is available. Enjoy." Before I could even make a proper introduction, she pushed me on my back hard and I went reeling into the room...and right into my new roomie. Talk about your great first impressions.

"W-What! Hey you better-" Before he could finish, Rei promptly slammed the door in his face while I scurried away and turned my back to him, my face as red as a tomato. He let out a sigh and a thick silence hung in the room for a few moments before he spoke up.

"So you're a Deadman...and my roommate. Do I get a name or are you going to stand there with your back turned toward me." His voice was deep and I could tell that he wasn't one to play around very much. At least that was my thoughts; I don't even know this guy.

Well isn't he the rude one? I let out a sigh of my own, all embarrassment flying out the window when I discovered his personality. Truly unattractive in my opinion, but I'll just have to learn to deal with it.

"My name is Mai, and yea, I suppose I am. I take it you are as well?" It was then that I looked around his...our...room. And honestly the place could use a little touching up. There was a bed, a couch, and a tv, that's it. No paintings, no tables, and absolutely nothing of color.

"Do I get a last name?"

He stared straight at me and I shot him a smirk. "When and if I find my little brother, then you'll know my last name. What about you? Do I get a last name?" He plopped down on his bed and folded his arms behind his head, closing his eye. "You'll find it out when I find yours out. It's only fair, don't you think?"

Oh I could already tell this was going to be a long stay here in this cell. But I do admit, it's nicer than the regular ones in the other blocks. I mean this one actually looked like a room with four walls rather than a regular cell with bars. At least I could have some privacy in here. It was then I noticed a door at the back of the room, but I dared not go near it until I knew what it was.

"Hey Senji. What's that door in the back?"

He craned an eye opened and glanced at the back wall. "That's the bathroom." Wow, I can tell that he's a regular bowl of sunshine. "Hey, you never told me your stage name." He sat up on the bed and since there was some room, I went over and plopped down beside him, I do admit though it was a little hot in this room. I did have a tank top on under my prisoner outfit so there's not harm in taking off a layer or two, right?

"Stage name? What do you mean?" I began undoing the buttons and Senji was off in daydream land, not even looking at me, but more or less looking up to the ceiling as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. I managed to get the last button undone and slid off the hot long sleeves, feeling much better in my breezy tank top.

"Are you serious? They didn't tell you any-hey what the heck women!" Senji looked over to me while he was talking but stopped mid sentence the moment he did. I couldn't understand why though. I looked at him with a strange look and followed him as his eyes scanned from my face, to my neck, and finally settling on my chest, which I might add was covered. Well, I guess you could say that a small amount of cleavage was showing but who cares! It was stifling in that room!

"What's wrong?"

His face went as red as red could be and he suddenly jerked off his jacket and shoved it in my direction, holding it on my shoulders so it would cover me up. "Y-You're indecent! Cover yourself up with that or put your uniform back on!"

He let go of the jacket and I held it in place before promptly rolling it up and throwing it in his face. "No way! It's burning up in here! I look fine! You should be grateful that you're new roommate isn't some stuck Barbie who flashes everything she has!"

I saw him narrow his eyes, though he wasn't that intimidating when his face was all red like that, and he crossed his arms. "Are you trying to tell me that you're not going to put your uniform back on?"

"I didn't say that. It's just hot right now. If I get cold I'll put it back on, but for now the top stays off and the tank top stays on." I crossed my arms over my chest, proving my point but oh no, I suppose it wasn't going to be that easy.

"Yea, that's not going to work." He got up from the bed and in one fluid motion, literally swung me over his shoulder and started heading out the door, not even bothering to put his own shirt back on! Though I must admit he had a very fit body and it wasn't half bad to look at, but that's not the point right now!

"H-Hey! What are you doing! Put me down right now!" From my limited view I saw that he was walking down the hallway, where to I have no clue though. "Where are we even going!"

He made a turn but refused to speak to me, intent on doing whatever he was doing. Maybe he was taking me to the doctor lady and demanding that I no longer be his roommate. Speaking of doctor, here she is.

"Senji? I just left you...what in the world are you doing?" He walked past her with a sharp smirk, though I couldn't see it, I could feel the smugness coming from him.

"I'm just making a few adjustments with my roomie here. Don't worry; I'll make sure she's fine when we get back." He continued walking before I caught sight of other prisoners giving me a curious look. Wow, Senji, thanks for making me look like a sack of potatoes!

"When exactly do you plan on putting me down?" He still didn't respond but instead entered a room that was filled to the brim with everything you could possibly think of. Beds, booze, games, food, everything! I felt him slide an arm under my stomach before he threw me off his shoulder and onto some couch.

"Stay there. I'll be back in a minute." Without another word he walked off to a section of the store and disappeared from my sight. "Well isn't this just grand. Here I am stranded, with no idea how to get back to the room, and my new 'friend' has skulked off somewhere. If there's a God...he really hates me right now."

I saw Senji come back and in his hands were a few items of clothing. He stood before me and threw them on my lap. "Think those will fit?"

Standing up I picked up each of the items and laid them on the couch, inwardly laughing to myself. "You know Senji, for someone who seems to be such a man; you sure are shy around the feminine body...not to mention your sense of a woman's style is revolting."

He turned his head away from me, cheeks turning already, and gave out a small cough. "Just tell me if they would fit okay?" Rolling my eyes I noticed a new person coming our way, and he looked flat out creepy. Grinning from ear to ear, glasses glinting in the light, and a piece of hair sticking straight up in the middle of his head.

"Well, well, well. The Crow buying his new friend some clothes. Who knew she could make you so soft so soon?" He said, clapping his hands together and eyeing us both strangely. "Miss Mai, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He stuck out his hand and I hesitantly accepted. Judging from the way he was dressed, he definitely wasn't a prisoner. Maybe he was some kind of executive around here.

"Oh I can see you are just racking through your brain trying to figure me out. Allow me to introduce myself. My name Is Tamaki, I'm the chief warden here and have come to assist you for your game tonight."

I saw Senji glare over to Tamaki, but he remained silent. "Game? What do you mean by game?" I asked him. This place sure was getting stranger and stranger with every new person I meet.

"I guess you weren't informed of anything about the G block when you were brought in. I would fill you in but I have many things that are just calling my name. I'm sure Crow can inform you of everything. Oh and don't forget, you'll need to wear something besides that uniform, the audience doesn't care too much for bland clothing such as that."

He walked away from us and waved goodbye, truly creepy in my opinion. "Wow, he's a real piece of work. What did he mean by a game though?" Turning my head I saw that Senji didn't look to happy about the whole thing.

"I'll tell you when we get back to the room. The regular prisoners here don't need to know about anything that we in G-Block do. So don't mention it to anyone alright? Now tell me if those clothes will fit or not! You're killing me with your indecency woman!"

"Yea, they look like they'll fit, now come one before you have a nosebleed or something." We gathered up the clothes, such a nice guy, and went back to the room when he shoved me into the bathroom, demanding that I put something else on.

"Fine calm down! Look is this better oh shy one?" I had changed into a pair of red shorts that came to my knees and a plain black t shirt. The collar was high and hid everything to his satisfaction. "Better?"

He shot me a smile before giving me a thumbs up. "Much, now I can look at you without getting distracted." I knew he meant well, but if only he realized how much of a perv that made him sound. "Now, before the game tonight you need to-"

We were interrupted by the door sliding open, revealing a guard. "Peacock, we are here to inform you that in approximately 20 minutes, you will be fighting Woodpecker in your first Carnival Corpse. We will be back for you in ten minutes." With that being said, he shut the door and left me to ponder.

"Peacock...peacock! Really! That's my grand stage name! I glanced down at my outfit, remember that Tamaki said to snazz it up a bit, but since I am zip for cash and Senji was nice enough to buy me these, I was not about to complain.

"Woodpecker huh. He's a nice kid; I was his first Carnival Corpse opponent." He grinned with satisfaction at the mere thought of it. "He's the reason I have the patch, but I have to say the punishment game was nice to me."

"Oh yea, give me the run down of the rules real quick." I sat down on the bed beside him and watched as he put a finger to his chin thoughtfully.

"For Carnival Corpse? There really aren't any rules. The fight stops when either of the Deadmen are dead or can't move. If you lose and can't move you have to go to the punishment game. They roll out this giant slot machine filled with body parts and whatever part it lands on they remove it from you right then and there...without medication."

I felt my stomach drop when he said with no medication. I wasn't a big fan of pain. I mean, I can deal with pricking the ends of my fingers with my nails but other than that you can count me out! I have to beat this Woodpecker guy, no matter who he is.

"Don't worry, you'll do fine. Just hit him dead center!" He thumped his chest with his fist, not that it made me feel any better, but he was trying. The door swung open again and the guard came in. "It's time Peacock. Let's go."

Taking in a deep breath, I tried to calm my nerves as much as I could. Woodpecker, I will beat you no matter what. "Well, wish me luck, I guess."

He cocked a grin and gave me a thumbs up before the door shut behind me and I went on to my first Carnival Corpse.


	2. Chapter 2

Aww you guys are just wonderful! Thankies for all the reviews and I'm happy that you like the story. Major secret found out in this chappie so read and enjoy! Oh and review, reviews are so very nice. :)

* * *

"Well, now I guess I understand why all the Deadmen have bird names. This is just freaky." I was in a small cage, barely big enough to fit one person inside, I can't imagine how Senji must feel. My head almost hits the top; he must have to hunker down until he's let out. I must say though, knowing that this is about to take place in a giant multicolored birdcage...as I've said before, it's just freaky.

"Alright, you know the rules, Peacock. Oh wait! There are no rules, no official ones anyway." The guard pressed a button and the cage immediately began to descend to the colorful floor below. I could see the other cage through my bars and inside it looked to be like there was a young boy. Heh, he even kind of looked liked my brother, but that's insane. He's not a Deadman, I would have noticed him using his powers before.

"Laaaaaaaaaaadies and Geeeeeeentleman! I am here to welcome you to Caaaarnival Coooooooooorpse! We have the rising star Woodpecker and the new girl Peacock! Before we let them out how about a round of applause!"

Glancing up I saw a giant, no that can't be right. "Is that a chicken for the loudspeaker? This place just keeps getting weirder and weirder." I said while placing a hand to my forehead and already dreading this match.

I also happen to notice that there was no real audience; rather they were disguised by faces of animals with their names below the picture. I did hear an applause though, they must be watching from a separate room or something.

"Alright ladies and gentleman, here we go. Deadmen, step out of your cages and begin!" I heard the lock to my cage click and I pushed the door open, breathing heavily as I did so. This may look like a boy but he's a deadman, he could probably rip me to shreds if he wanted to. Not even going to lie, the nerves were already getting to me and nothing had happened yet. But I can't show fear to this person, I must stay strong and win, otherwise the punishment game...oh I cringe just thinking about it.

"Well, aren't you going to come out?" I took the tips of my fingernails, I always kept them a little sharper than normal for this reason, and pricked all ten of my fingertips. Blood immediatly flowed out to about three feet, shaped like long straight knives. I know, it's not the mist destructive power, but hey it works.

"I-I'm working on it! The cage is stuck!" Wow this boy didn't sound that old at all. He sounded like a young teenager, if so how was I supposed to win against him? I mean, if he's younger than me isn't that kind of considered wrong? Abusive maybe?

In a flash, I saw the door to the cage burst open and his foot sticking out, must have kicked it open. "Alright I'm out! Now-"

He stopped talking and I couldn't understand why, I couldn't see what he looked like either, he was still masked by the shadows of the cage. "Y-You died...in the accident...Y-You were never found! Mai...it's me."

He stepped from the shadows and for the first time I saw his face. Woodpecker, my opponent, my little brother. How am I supposed to do this now? "Ganta. Ganta!" I raced forward, forcing my blood back into my body and wrapped my arms around him. He had grown up so much, and I had missed him. "Look at you, you're so tall." My heartbeat was erratic and my eyes grew watery from the salty tears daring to burst forth.

"Mai, you died! They never found your body! What are you doing here!" He screamed, his own eyes already brimming with tears, as he held me as tight as I held him. But I don't know if they were tears of joy and tears or pain. He believed me to be dead all these years but I have always been around. I squeezed him tighter with every word he spoke.

"No, No Ganta I never died. I, when the accident occurred my powers came out. I was so afraid, afraid that if I were to be around you then I would lose control and hurt you." Telling him this was one of the hardest things to do. I felt like I had betrayed him somehow by not returning. I kept him alone all those years.

He pulled away and wiped his eyes, looking up into my own. Man, when did I start crying? "But, you left." He choked out, bringing up his arm and continuing to wipe away the tears.

"Ganta, just because you never saw me, it doesn't mean I was never around. I was always there watching over you. When I found out you were sent here, I got myself thrown in. Ganta I'm going to pay off your sentence and my own, and we'll go home. Together, like it use to be."

"Woah ladies and gentleman! It seems we have a brother sister reunion going on here in the Carnival Corpse!" Boomed the announcer. He just doesn't know when to shut up does he?

"Oh will you shut up you stupid announcer!" I screamed up at the...chicken. I was happy when he went silent and the audience gave a slight giggle though, must be amusing to see such a sappy girl get angry in such a touching moment.

"Ganta listen to me. You listen to me right now. What is your power?" He looked down to his hand and then back toward me. I could tell that this was all a big shock to him and he didn't really know what to do. If you want to know the truth I didn't know what to do either.

"My branch of Sin? I shoot bullet like projectiles from my hand." Bullets huh, man this is going to hurt him as much as it hurts me. "Show me."

He gave me a curious look but did it anyway. Biting his thumb, I watched as his blood flowed out and formed a small ball in the middle of his hand, swirling and begging to be released onto something. Grabbing that same hand I pressed it against my chest and eyed him seriously.

"Fire Ganta. Win this Carnival Corpse, please. Don't ask me to hurt you, not when I just found you again." He tried to break free and pull his hand away but I kept him in place. "Ganta, please."

"No! No I won't do it! I won't do it Mai! You'll go to the punishment game and...I won't do it!" He screamed, making the audience laugh from the supposed comical sight before them. Brother and sister fighting, what's so funny about that?

Feeling a new stream of tears make their way down I gripped his hand tighter against my chest. "Ganta, don't make me beg. Do this for me...please. I will go to the punishment game, yes, I am prepared for it. You are my younger brother and it's my job to protect you, even if it's from me. Now please fire and win. Earn cast points, live a luxurious life while you're here, or better yet, pay off some of your sentence."

He looked at me with hardened eyes. I knew he didn't want to do this, but I remember Senji saying that there is one kind of rule...there's no forfeits. "Mai...I'm so sorry." A swirling feeling was felt beneath my clothes and I closed my eyes, waiting for him to take his shot. In a moments flash I felt an immense pressure on my chest as I was sent flying backwards, landing harshly on my back and out of breath.

"Will you look at that ladies and gentleman! The brother fired away on the sister with his Ganta Gun! She's not moving, unable to get up, and the winner is Woodpecker!" The loudspeaker cheered. I heard many footsteps rushing toward me but my vision was starting to blur, my hearing was starting to fade, I was falling unconscious. Great.

_"Mai! Mai!"_ Ganta, you silly little boy, be happy...you won. Something warm intertwined itself with my hand as I felt myself being lifted up onto what I guessed to be a stretcher. The warmth in my hand slid away and I lost it and my world went black. _"Maaaaaaaaaaai!"_

* * *

_"Mai...Mai...time to wake up now...Mai. It's time to play a game now."_ Wha-who is that? Sounds familiar. My eyes fluttered open and I was blinded with the intensity of many lights. I tried to rub my eyes but my hands were strapped down to something.

"Ah, there you are. I was starting to think that you were actually dead." Is that Rei, the doctor? Yes, that did sound like her voice, but where am I, and why can't I move? "Come on sleepy head, time to wake up now, you have an exciting few minutes ahead of you."

After a few moments I shook my head and was fully awake, able to take in all of my surroundings. I was in a room and standing in front of me was the doctor and...A slot machine. "The punishment game."

"That's right, let's hope your luck has improved. Though you didn't seem to win on luck did you? Risky move you pulled in there, it made the audience go wild though, let's hope you live to do it again." She pulled the giant lever and I watched as it turned and turned and turned until finally it stopped. Well, at least me and Senji will have something in common now.

"Well look at that, the right eye." She said. Immediatly I felt the chair I was in starting to go back as well as a hoard of doctors pushing shiny tables in my direction. They tightened up my straps and the left me and Rei. She looked down at me, a weird thing holding my eye lid open so my actual eye was in full view. The snapping of her glove and that sadistic smile was enough to make my heart jump out of my chest.

"I'm really sorry about this Mai, but this is Deadman Wonderland and this is the rules we go by." She reached down for a tool that literally looked as though it was going to scoop my eye out. I waited and waited for someone to shoot me up with morphine or something but they never did.

_"Without medication."_ Senjis voice tolled through my head as fear finally set it. I guess it was always there but the reality of what was about to happen finally sunk in. I felt the metal against my eye and I tried to squeeze it shut, but no matter my efforts, nothing happened.

The pain was like nothing I had every experienced before, I think this would have childbirth beaten by a long shot. I tried to thrash my head but I couldn't move. I was subjected to this pain, at least it wasn't Ganta. Rei. I knew you were sadistic, look at you. Grinning from ear to ear as my blood splatters on your cheek, good grief you're even blushing. I clawed at the metal of the arms and arched my back to the best of my abilities. This limited moving made the pain all the worse.

Scream after scream ripped through my system until I felt her give a final pull, ripping my eye from its socket and leaving a bloody waterfall dripping back down onto me. Heavy breathing and silent shaking is what I was doing that very moment. The multitude of doctors rushed back and began to 'clean me up'. They wiped the blood away and patched up the fresh wound so it wouldn't get an infection. They even put an eye patch over me so no one would have to look at this hideous hole in my face now.

Through all of this though I would not cry. I may have screamed to my hearts content, but I would not cry. Ganta may be watching and I would not show him that I was crying from pain. I put myself in this position, and I accept the consciences.

"Alright Mai, you're finished. You can go back to your cell now. Oh and swallow these, they'll numb the pain a little." Rei tossed me two small pills and I gulped them down dry, no water needed. I was a little wobbly at first, but I managed to regain my footing after a few minutes. My head pounded with a fury I didn't know existed and I felt as though I was about to puke any second.

"I just want to get back...to the cell. Senji...you better be up." I whispered to myself, not really in the mood for actually talking right now. Walking to the cell was a lot harder than I thought it would be, using one eye for vision, it was strange and it was hard. It would take awhile to get use to.

Finally after what seemed like hours, I made it to the door. Knocking, I was relieved when it slide open and Senji stood there with an expression that I couldn't really place. I walked in the room and he shut the door behind us, reaching an arm over my shoulder and sliding it shut.

"Mai...you, uh, you alright?" He seemed to be at a loss, not really the type of person to comfort, let alone comfort a girl in a situation like this. I was a wreck, I felt sick and the tears were starting to flow like a waterfall from the one remaining eye I had left. In all my mixed up feelings, I needed comfort. I needed something, and Senji happened to be that something right now.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my head in his chest, he was a lot taller than me, and I let the tears run free. Sobs echoed through my body and even though it was awkward for him, even though he is the world's number one shy man, he did the best he could.

A large hand was placed on the back of my head while the other wrapped around my waist, holding me the best way he knew how. "C-Come on now, s-stop crying." 'He stuttered out. Stop crying? How was I supposed to stop crying in a situation like this? I lost my eye; my little brother has clearly had to go through this several times and...and...I don't even know what else.

"I-I'm so sorry S-Senji." I pushed myself away from him and rubbed the tears away with the back of my hand. "I-I shouldn't p-p-put you in a-a position l-like t-that." He gave off a small chuckle before placing a large hand on top of my head, ruffling my hair a bit and being careful not to hurt me and my fresh wound.

"Don't worry about it. Come on, it's late. We should go to bed." I saw him as he grabbed a pillow from the bed and brought it over to the couch, plopping himself down after taking off his shoes, socks and coat.

"H-hey. What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to bed." He put the pillow behind his head and closed his eyes, preparing to fall into a blissful sleep.

"But you're on the couch. No, this is your room, you can sleep in your own bed and I'll sleep on the couch, it's only fair." I said while walking over to him and watching as he squinted an eye open.

"I don't think so. You've had a rough first day here, I'll take the couch for tonight and you can take the bed." He closed his eyes again and tried falling asleep, but I wasn't about to let him sleep on that couch. Besides, it looked hard anyway and it obviously didn't pull out into another bed or he would have done that already.

"No." reaching down I grabbed the pillow from under his head and threw it back onto the bed, placing my hands on my hips when I was finished. "Now that was uncalled for."

He got up from the couch and went to retrieve his pillow, giving me the prefect opportunity to take the couch for myself. Tomorrow we would have to go to the store and see if they had an air mattress or something.

"Oh you think you're real smart don't you. Well, you may not be able to pick me up, but I can pick you up easy." Before I could protest he came over and scooped me up, taking me back over to the bed and started to set me down before I spoke up.

"Senji, we can do this all night, but one of us is sleeping on that couch and I know it's not going to be you. So you might as well just put me back and go to sleep, it'll make this a whole lot easier." I told him, giving a small glare but regretting it as soon as I did. I couldn't exactly make many facial expressions right now due to the immense pain that was still running through me and my head.

"If you're not sleeping on the bed, and I'm not sleeping on the bed then we have a problem." He glanced over to the bed and then to the couch before looking at me with a sigh. "Women sure are troublesome, is that what you're wearing to bed?"

"I don't even feel like changing so yea, this is my pajamas for tonight. Now put me down, I'm tired and I want to sleep this headache away." Squirming around, I tried to put my feet on the ground but he was so much taller than me and just wouldn't put me down. Instead he waked over to the door and lifted a foot, turning off the light and then throwing me down onto the bed.

"H-Hey I told you-"

"Just shut up and scoot over. And stay on your side of the bed." The bed dipped down and I scooted over to the wall as much as I could, putting myself under the covers. "Seriously...stay on your side. This is awkward enough so having you all snuggly against me will just make me-" I heard him give off a small cough and the heat coming from him was enough to set the room on fire. For a tough guy he sure can be cute when he wants to be.

"Please don't let anyone barge in, in the morning. That's bound to start all kinds of rumors." I giggled out. Laying my head against the pillow, I waited for him to get settled underneath the covers as well. Once we were all comfy and cozy I reached over and toughed his arm, getting his attention for a minute before he completely dozed off.

"Senji?" He gave off a small hum, letting me know that he was listening. "Thank you."

"Heh, you're a strange woman."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello my lovlies~ It's so nice to see you again! Here is part three of my Senji/Crow story. I'm very happy that those who took the time to review did so, but I noticed something. Out of almost 300 views, only about five actually took the time to review it. Made me kind of sad, I REALLY want to know what you think of the story so pleeeeeeease review for me? It would be most appreciated. :) But anyways, read, enjoy, review!

* * *

_"Mai...Mai...time to wake up now...Mai. It's time to play a game now."_

My eye shot open and I nearly bolted out of bed. Sweat was running down my entire being from those very recent, very unforgiving memories. To here her say that again was terrifying. At least the pain in my head isn't as bad as it use to be. "Mmm, what time is it? Senji, are you awake yet?" I groaned out, trying to push this heavy cover from me so I could search for a clock of some sort.

Hearing a, in my opinion strange sounding, snore, I craned my neck up and saw Senji with his mouth wide open and snoring like it was nobodies business. No wonder I woke up. I managed to push the covers away from my body and shivered from the newfound cold that this room was providing. Man, I still didn't know what time it was either. It was so chilly at the moment, I actually had the urge to pull the covers back up and snuggle into him, but with his girly freak out moments it would just be strange, not to mention inappropriate giving the time factor that we've known each other.

Senji let out another snore and rolled over to where his back was facing me and then in one graceful move...he fell off the bed and landed in the floor on his back. And would you believe that he didn't even wake up! "Wow, really Senji?" I said while peeking over the bed and down onto the floor.

I managed to creep my way around him, finally getting the time, and walked into the bathroom. Might as well let him sleep until I get out at least, it was about seven and a little early. "Shower here I come!" I whispered out with excitement. Too much had happened last night for me to even consider the possibility of a shower, but this morning I was feeling a little better. Besides I felt nasty with all the sweat and blood all over me.

Entering the bathroom, it seemed normal enough, though the color was dull. White walls, white floors, and tub, toilet, counter, sink, white everything! How does he do this everyday! "Oh well, maybe when I get some cast points I can spruce the place up a little bit. Maybe get a flower or something."

Stripping myself from my bloodied and sweaty clothes, I got into the shower and pulled the curtain back. I didn't bother to take off my eye patch though; I had a feeling that water against the wound would be a lot of pain right now. Turning on the water, I let it run as hot as I could stand it.

"Ah, this feels amazing." Standing under the stream of beady water, I grabbed the bottle of shampoo and gave off a sigh. "Vanilla and strawberry? Whatever." I squirted a good amount into my hand and scrubbed my scalp, trying to massage away the remaining part of the head ache that still lingered. It was working and the hot water helped to relax all the sore muscles in my body.

"I wonder what there is to do around here. I need to spend time with Ganta, but I wonder if we are even allowed out of our cells?" I pondered while rinsing out the soapy bubbles and replacing it with the more smooth and creamy conditioner. I ran it through my long tresses and rinsed it out as I did before.

A small creaking noise was heard and I saw a shadow looming just outside. "Senji? Is that you?" I said while poking my wet head out from behind the curtain. He was still just in his pants and had obviously just woken up from his little tumble to the hard floor. "Yea, when did you get up?"

Sticking my head back in I grabbed a bar of soap and began to wash away all impurities that were stuck to my skin. "You do realize that I'm bare behind this curtain right? Shouldn't you be running away with a red face or something?" I giggled out.

"It's too early to be embarrassed. Besides, I can't see anything because of the curtain, so this doesn't bother me. How you doing anyways? How's your eye?" He asked while turning on the faucet of the sink. It made the water a little cooler than normal but it wasn't that bad. Well, not bad enough to chuck the soap at him at least.

"I'm doing better, but my eye still hurts some. How ling did it take before yours stopped?"

"Few days at the most, then it just needs time to heal." He stuck a toothbrush in his mouth and began to brush his teeth. Speaking of which, I have absolutely nothing! No clothes, no underwear, no sanitary things!

Rinsing off the soap, I turned the water off and poked my head out again. "Hey, grab me a towel will you?" He turned his head toward me, toothbrush sticking out in all glory and grabbed a towel from under the sink and tossed it too me. I wrapped it around myself and stepped out of the shower, glad to be away from the steam.

"H-Hey! What do you think your doing coming out here in nothing but that!" He screamed, toothpaste flying everywhere, while he pointed an accusing finger toward me. Not to mention the beautiful shade of red on his cute little cheeks.

I gave off a sigh and crossed my arms over my chest. "Senji, I may have only known you for twenty four hours, but before I die, I am going to break you from being shy. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I will! Now...can I please borrow some money for clothes?"

"Take it all! But please put some clothes on woman!" He shielded his eyes by placing a hand over them and then felt his way out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom where he thought it was safe. Or not. I followed him out and tapped him on the shoulders, "Can I borrow some clothes then?"

"Y-Yea here! Take this!" He scrambled over to the small dresser he had and pulled out a pair of his pants and one of his long coats, but no shirt. He placed his hand over his eyes again and with the other pointed to the bathroom. "Now get in there and get decent!"

I picked up my underwear and bra from yesterday, disgusted in my head about the whole thing, and took the clothes in my arms. But then I noticed that I had a slight problem. "Umm Senji...what about an actual shirt? This thing doesn't zip or button up does it?"

"Shirt...I-I don't have an actual shirt." He replied sheepishly. "Wait, didn't I get you clothes yesterday? Now where did I put them?" He went back over to his dresser and then pulled out a pair of black shorts, and a bright green, plain t shirt. "Here, this'll be better." He tossed them over to me, making me drop what I already had.

"Oh yea. Thanks, I'll pay you back I promise! Just as soon as I earn some cast points." I was about to turn and head back to the bathroom when the door slid open quickly, revealing a guard.

"Crow we are here to inform you-why is Peacock in nothing but a towel?" He stopped in the middle of his sentence and asked, looking me up and down through his mask. This I did not like, and judging from the hard glare that Senji was giving off, he didn't like it either. Quickly pricking my left index finger, I shot out a long stream of blood and pointed it right at his neck.

"If I were you, I would stop being a pervert and get on with whatever you have to say; otherwise this is going through your throat." I threatened, surprising Senji enough to actually have his mouth hang open a bit.

"R-Right. Crow, we have come to inform you that tonight you have a carnival corpse against Hummingbird." He finished, immediatly backing away and running out the room before any further actions by yours truly could be taken. I retracted the blood and gave off a sigh.

"Well look at you. Getting all tough on me." He smirked out. I grabbed his clothes from the ground and threw them in his face, then proceeded to go back to the bathroom to change. I discarded my towel and brushed my hair out with a brush I saw on the counter, hope you don't mind Senji. I then proceeded to put on all my clothes, still disgusted by the underwear, and walked back out into the bedroom while Senji finished dressing. I saw his pants, thank goodness they covered his underwear, from last night on the bed and he was sporting a fresh new pair.

"That's better. You know I was thinking that you should enter the dog race today to earn some cast points, you're really in need of some." He mentioned, walking back into the bathroom and putting his toothbrush back in its rightful place.

"Dog race? What the heck's a dog race?"

"It's like an obstacle course, only it's more extreme than you'd think. Woodpecker said that he went through it once and almost died, literally. Some girl named Shiro helped him. Come one, I'm sure you want to see him anyways." He headed for the door with a wave of his hand and I followed quickly after him like a lost puppy. Well, I guess that's kind of what I was. I didn't have a clue around this place yet and if I were to get separated from him, I'd freak.

"You mean we're allowed to roam free? Isn't that against the rules or something?" I asked while peeping around, making sure that there are no guards or anything. "Couldn't we get into trouble for this?"

"This is G-Block, with people like us; the guards don't dare say anything unless they're armed. We're fine. Here we are, hey Woodpecker, open up!" He brought up a fist and knocked a few times on a door that actually wasn't to far from our own, maybe three or four down. Now that I could remember.

It slid open and Ganta glanced up at Senji. "Oh hey Senji...Mai, I'm so sorry." Senji stood aside and let me through so I could see Ganta. Immediately, I went over and gave him a hug that probably crushed him from the inside.

"Ganta, it's so good to see you. I mean really see you, not in the Carnival Corpse, just as a regular person." I said to him, tears already threatening to spill from my eye. "And don't worry about my eye; it was worth it to know my little brother's okay." I wiped away the offending liquid and we all stepped inside his room. It was basically like Senjis, only he actually had some color in it. You know, maybe an orange pillow here, a few pictures there, that kind of stuff.

"I was telling her about the dog race today." Senji said while sitting down in a desk chair, folding his legs over one another. I on the other hand made myself comfortable on Gantas bed, leaning my back against the wall and watched as he did the same by my side.

"The dog race is brutal. I-I would have died if it hadn't been for Shiro; she really helped me through it. You're not actually thinking of competing are you?" He asked, gray eyes already filling with worry for his older sister.

"Ganta I need some cast points, besides I don't have a carnival corpse tonight, Senji does. I can't just wait around for them. Hey who are you against anyways?" I asked Senji. I did happen to notice that he gave off a shiver though, heh, must be a girl.

"She's crazy! I've only fought her once, but her outfits and her use of words, it's awful." He said, crossing his arms and looking away from me with a tint to his cheeks. Wow, I will most definitely have to watch him in the Carnival Corpse tonight.

"Mai, if you ever have to go against her, don't listen to a thing she says. She'll be all nice and sweet to you, but in the arena she's nothing but a psycho." Ganta added, pointing his finger at me like I was a small child. It actually brought a smile to my face; he's grown up so much.

"Yea, I'll be sure to check that in my head. But seriously, how do you enter the dog race. I need cast points so I can pay you back for all the clothes and what not." I felt bad because of it. He earned those cast points for himself and spent some of them on me, a person he barely even knew.

"Don't worry about it. Clothes aren't a big deal; it's the candy you have to worry about, without it every three days you'll die." He replied coolly.

"Oh yea-" Before I could finish my sentence the door to Gantas room slid open and the peppiest girl I had ever seen in my life came darting in there and hopped on the first thing she could. And believe it or not Senji managed to avoid her! Though I could tell that he was very uncomfortable. Must be the skin tight and almost see through clothes she was wearing.

She bounced over between me and Ganta and let a cute giggle escape. "Ganta, you didn't tell me that your sister was here! How could you!" She immediatly turned her ruby eyes toward me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"I'm Shiro, Gantas bestest best friend! I'm so happy to meet you Mai!" Wrapping her arms around me, she pulled me into a hug while laughing. Once she let go I gave her a soft smile; she may be the same age as Ganta but she acts like she's four. It's cute in my opinion.

"It's nice to meet you too Shiro. I'm glad that Ganta has a few friends in this place." I said with a smile. But really, we've avoided this whole topic since we got in here. "Seriously guys, dog race, I need to know."

"Oh you're going to enter the dog race today! I want to too! Come on Ganta we had so much fun last time! Please, please, please!" She begged. This was a strange girl. She was albino, that's a dead give away, but I feel as though I've seen her somewhere before. Maybe in the past she was a friend of the families?

"N-No Shiro! No way am I doing that again! And I don't want Mai to either!" He yelled out, making a guard pop his head in. Actually I believe it was the same one that was gawking at me earlier when the clothing issue was brought into play. One small glare from me was enough to make him slink away like the pervert he truly was.

"Don't worry Woodpecker, I'll enter with her, make sure she comes back in one piece." Looking over I saw Senjis giving a small smirk over to Ganta, who seemed to feel a little better. Why would he bother doing something like that, I mean he could get hurt or something couldn't he?

"Y-you don't have to do that Senji. I'll be fine."

"Ha! Sis I remember when we use to go to the park. Believe me, you're not the most graceful thing in the world ok. Besides, I've fought against Senji and he moves pretty good, if you're going to enter at least take him with you." Ganta said through Shiro. Literally, she was wrapped around him like a snake and refused to let go. He had managed to pop his head from under her arm to talk to me.

"Oh thanks for the support little brother! Fine, if it makes you feel better, and if you don't mind Senji, I'll take him with me. Now come on! Who knows when this thing starts and besides, we have to get out of G-block anyways." Both Senji and I got up, intending to head out the door when I felt something tugging at the back of my shirt.

Glancing back I saw Shiro was an embarrassed look on her face. "Mai...can I have you bean bun?" Giving out a small chuckle I gave her a small wink. "Sure Shiro, I'll be sure to give it too you. Wish us luck you guys!" Shiro jumped up and began to cheer Senji and I a 'fight song' while we walked away and toward the exit of G-block.

"Senji, you really don't have to do this you know. You've been more than kind to me; I can't ask you to put your life in dan-" He put his hand over my mouth and silenced me right then and there.

"If you say one more thing about me getting hurt or something like that then we are going to have a problem. You care too much Mai." He grinned out, delighting in my stunned form. He removed his hand and began walking again down the hall and I caught up and started walking beside him.

"Oh I care too much. Let's do a comparison shall we? You buy me clothes, you comfort me when I needed it and we can't forget the biggie. Strong man was enough of a gentleman to let me sleep in the same bed! You know Senji I'm starting to think that you like me or something." I giggle out. Oh if I could have gotten a snap shot of his face right then and there it would have sold for millions.

"W-What! I do not like you!" I cocked an eyebrow at him, getting him more embarrassed than he already was. Yea it was probably mean in a way but I just couldn't resist myself, he was doing nothing but digger himself into a deeper hole.

"I mean, I'm not saying that I never would. I mean y-you really pretty and all, but-"

"Senji...I get it." I laughed out, walking over to him and grabbing his arm, linking it with mine. "Now come on tough guy. Help me get through the dog race!"


	4. Chapter 4

Hello my lovlies~ Here is chappie four of Peacock! In this chappie we have the notorious Dog Race! Mwahahaha! Oh how will our dear Mai do! Will she live? Die? Read and see! And I thank you all for the reviews! Don't stop doing it! :)

* * *

I stared in front of me in horror. I mean pure shell shocked, heart exploded, and stomach in your mouth HORROR. "This is the dog race! This is more like a death race!" I shouted while looking to my now impending doom. Swinging knives, arrows, balls over acid? I mean come on! There is only so much I can do.

"Calm down, this is why I'm here remember?" Senji said while loosening up his arms, twirling them around in a circle. I suppose I should loosen up too but with that idiot staring at me I really don't want to move. Because I know as soon as I do, he'll make some sick comment and then I'm going to have to hurt him big time!

_"What's the matter Senji; you're not still embarrassed are you?" I giggled out while putting my number 13 on, tying it around my neck and then around my waist. Must be a natural thing for girls to do because he was having so much trouble with it. He looked like he was trying to scratch his back off._

_"Just shut up Mai, and help me with this stupid number." He walked over to a bench and stood in front of it while I got up to his level by standing on it. Well, kind of. At least I could reach him now. I tied it around his neck, not to tight but not to loose, and then jumped down and did the same for around his waist. He had removed his coat before hand and was now putting it back on over the strings._

_"Well, well, well, lookie here boys. Seems like today there's only one girl trying to win herself some cast points." Came a gruff and deep voice. Both Senji and I looked over and saw the world famous martial artist, Kozuji Kazumasa. Rumor has it he's in here for nearly beating the snot out of some actress who refused to give him her email. I don't blame her; he doesn't seem like the world nicest guy. And I know he's not the world best looking._

_He walked over and placed a large hand on my shoulder, squeezing slightly. "Come on doll; is this really what you want to do? Cause you know that there's no way your going to win against me." He removed his hand from my shoulder and let it travel up to where it was grasping my chin, making me look straight into his eyes. "Unless of course you're willing to persuade me a little later on that is." He whispered into my ear. Man this guy was flat out disgusting. Who hits on someone they literally just met?_

_Getting the vibe that he was about to, ahem, place his hands on other places, I pricked the tip of my index finger, ready to show him just how much of a idiot he could truly look like. I felt the blood leave my body but before there was enough for anyone to really see, Senji grabbed my wrist, making me halt all movements._

_"I don't appreciate you trying to hit on my girl when I'm standing right here you know." He said, releasing my wrist and then placing it on my stomach, pushing me back behind him. _

_"Oh, your girl? Heh, what's the matter little man, afraid of a little competition?" Kozuji smirked out with a smile that could make a creeper flinch away from. "Because I'll win. Just like I'm going to win the dog race and just like those cast points are mine and mine alone."_

_"Is that right?" I have to say even though this guy was taller and bigger than Senji, I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen? I mean I hear that he is one to be reckoned with in the Carnival Corpse. Not to mention my brother seems to have complete faith in him getting me through this race. "Well I have news for you." He curled his fist into a ball and lunged forward, intending to punch Kozuji in the face, but he's not a master of martial arts for nothing. He caught Senjis hand and they stood frozen, eyes locked with each other._

_"Not that I wouldn't like to beat you to a pulp right here right now, but the race is about to start. We'll finish this there, how about that?" Kozuji said, words literally dripping with venom._

_Senji snatched away his hand and gave off an equal yet excited smirk. "Oh believe me, we will. Come on Mai; let's get to the starting line already."_

"Uh yea." I mumbled out before the announcer came over a loudspeaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to Deadman Wonderlands famous dog race! Please take your seats and the race will begin when the canon fires!" She said. The entire audience members quickly pulled out their video recorders and cameras. Ha, the clearly don't know what they're in for. Heck I don't know what I'm in for!

"Hey, Mai, don't wonder too far from me okay? Oh, and no matter what, we can't use our branch of sin. Not in a public place like this anyways, we have to rely on pure physical strength." He said as a matter of factly.

"Physical strength...got it." Oh man this was starting to sound like a bad idea. My heart was racing and my breathing was already at a high, there was no way I could do this. No, I can't think this way. I have to remain strong, for Ganta. I have to pay off his sentence and set him free.

"And here we goooooo!" Came the loudspeaker, along with the loud boom of a canon. Immediately all the contestants raced forward, trying to become number one, like me. My shirt was yanked back quickly and I glanced over to Senji who stood still in his place.

"What are you doing? This is a race!" I scolded, not happy about the fact that we have yet to move from out spots.

"It may be a race, but things work a little differently around here. It's not about who's first, it's about who lives at the final stage. We'll take our time and get there in one piece." He began to jog forward with me behind him as we came upon out first obstacle.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I screamed while being tripped, on purpose might I add, by Senji. He slid his foot into mine, helping me to avoid the giant, curved blades that were trying to hack us to pieces.

"Thanks man." We both got up, me avoiding better than before, and made it to the next obstacle. Climbing stairs wasn't the most pleasant thing in the world and one look down made me freeze from the inside out.

"Alright ladies and gentleman! Our last competitors have arrived at the bungee bundle! Where a hasty choice of rope could save you or sink you! If you get the idea that is." The announcer was definitely not making me feel any better about this.

"S-Senji I'm not sure about this. I-I really don't want to go, what if my rope is too long, I-I'll-" I can really be an idiot sometimes. Looking down at the mangled bodies of my foes wasn't the best thing to do. Whoopee for me I guess.

"I told you that's what I'm here for. Don't worry about it Mai. I promised Woodpecker I'd bring you back to him in one piece and that's what I intend to do." He told me while getting strapped up. I had been strapped up for a good while but was waiting patiently for him to get ready.

"Ready?" He asked while grabbing my arm and making us both walk to the edge of the platform.

Looking down again, I could see the 'guards' cleaning up the mess and hauling away the bodies from those who didn't have luck. "I don't know about this SENJI!" What was this man thinking! Grabbing me and then jumping like we were invincible!

"Senji if we live I'll kill you!" I screamed out. We fell for a good two or three seconds before I felt us bouncing? Yes that would be the correct term, bouncing? Opening up my eyes, I hadn't even noticed they were closed, I saw that Senji was still holding me and the remainder of my rope was lying flat on the ground.

"Told you I would help you. Now come on, let's get to the next obstacle." He set me down on the ground while two guards came over and helped us out of those tight straps. "Alright ladies and gentlemen! Next up is the notorious Archer Valley! Can quick feet help out contestants avoid our friendly owls?"

"Archer Valley? What's that suppose to mean?" My question was soon answered by a single arrow being shot down in front of my foot. I stopped as fast as I could and went to the side, staying with Senji. And would you believe that he was smiling like this was fun!

"How are you smiling through something like this!" I shouted, going right and dodging a stream that came right toward me. He was flying through this race like it was a breeze. Looking back I noticed that Kozuji was taking the cruel and cheating way out. He had two men by his side and wasn't letting go of them. "Ugh, cheater." I mumbled out, not noticing an arrow that was hurdling toward me.

"Mai watch it!" Senji tried to push me out of the way, but neither of us was fast enough and I took it to the shoulder. He tried to stop me but I kept running, keeping my arm as still as possible for the moment. "Leave it until we get out of this place! Yank it out at the end or something!"

"Fine with me." We managed to reach the end, after various tumbles, dashes, and overall trips from your truly. We stood still for a moment and I braced myself for the pain that was about to come. "Ready?" I heard him ask.

"Ok, ok. Count to three and pull on two...but don't tell me!" I said. He looked at me like I was the star crazy of the day and shrugged his shoulders. "One, two..." He ripped the arrow from my back and I had to bite my hand to not scream. Oh yea, that, that was pain in a nut shell.

"That hurt more than I thought it would." I felt my back being pushed and Senji was hurrying me along to the next obstacle. "We got to keep moving or they'll shoot us with bullets instead."

"Right." I gripped my shoulder with my free hand and ran along side Senji, praying to every God I knew he would protect me. Well, as best as he could anyways. He was nicer than I thought him to be. Coming across the next course we stopped at the start of it. Giant bouncy balls were attached to rods that went down into...

"Is that acid! There's no way I'm doing that, no way!" I crossed my arms and was about to figure out someway to forfeit but obviously Senji wouldn't have that. "Then climb on. I'll get you across."

"Climb on your back? You can't be-" He gave me a look that I for one wasn't very fond of. I guess all my complaining must be getting on his nerves. "You better not drop me." I hopped on and wrapped my legs around his waist while my arms held me up against his chest and back. Actually, it was strange not having him blush with me so close to him in such a position. Maybe it was all the adrenaline rushing through his system from the race.

"Be careful Senji, please." He hopped onto the first one and then the second, and then the third. Stumbling for a moment rebalanced himself and held onto me underneath my legs. "Didn't I just say be careful!" I yelled with practically burying my face into his neck. I DID NOT want to see the rest of this obstacle.

"You expect me to concentrate when you're wrapped around me like this! Give me a break!" He said while hopping to the next ball. So I was wrong, aww Senji, you're just too cute sometimes. I couldn't help but to let a laugh escape. For such a tough guy he seems to have a sort of soft side.

"Look at that ladies and gentlemen! Number 28 is carrying 13 across the balls!" Came the announcer, screaming at the audience and getting them all riled up for nothing. They can't possibly be watching this if they think it's real. There's just no way unless they're all sadists or something.

We made it to the end and he sat me back down on my own two feet. With no time to waste we scurried to the next obstacle. "Giant balls with spikes coming out of them...awesome." I sighed out before running into the narrow hallways, avoiding and evading at all costs. How does he do this! I'm out of breath and he hasn't even broken a sweat! I definitely need to get some tips from him later.

"Hey there good looking. Didn't think you'd make it this far." I heard someone say from beside me. Glancing to my left I saw that Kozuji was running beside me, as well as avoiding all the same.

"Ha, you have such little faith in me! But look at you, I saw what you did back in Archer Valley, talk about being a friend you jerk." I huffed out, making it to the end of the obstacle and placing my hands on my knees to catch a breath.

"You're the jerk if you think this place is about making friends. This is prison sweetheart; no one here is your friend." He spat out while running ahead. I saw as he ran toward a bridge and Senji placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, we have to keep moving or they'll shoot us, remember?"

"Yea, let's go." I panted out. Seriously, I was out of shape, I wonder if G-Block has a weight room or something? We started over the bridge and so far there wasn't anything special about it. Yea it was a little wobbly but that's about it, then I heard a small ticking noise and it seemed to get louder and louder and louder until boom!

"It explodes! Who thinks of this crap!" I shouted while leaping over a giant gaping hole. Senji followed behind me and we pressed on, doing the same maneuvers until we reached the end. Our next obstacle was giant straight knives that fell at random times. I watched in horror as a man was sliced in half right before my very eye. Yes eyes, not eyes unfortunately.

"Come on Mai, you can do this." In an act of heart bursting bravery, he held out his hand. It took a few seconds but I accepted and we began the very careful timing of the falling knives. Some would fall in a pattern and some would be set at random.

"Ready, go!" He shouted, we ran through the first one and I was delighted that we made it without an injury. Well, through the first one at least. You know I bet it took us around ten minutes to make it through all of them! Some would fall fast, some would fall slow, and it was dreadful.

"Hey this is the last one until the final round!" I sputtered out with joy. The last one and it looks like it's a one at a time thing. I wouldn't exactly call a giant spinning log over a fire pit inviting though. With my shoulder in pain, I can only pray that my balance is good enough to get across.

"I'll go first." He said; crouching down and touching the ground before taking off in a hurry. The log was about twenty feet across? Not that long of a run but long enough to make you crash and literally burn. He made it across and turned toward me, waving a hand and signaling for me to get a move on.

"Come on Mai! You can do it!" Yea I can do this. It's just one foot in front of the other right? Only a little faster and a bit more panicked.

"I can do this...oh I'm going to fall!" I yelled while running toward the log. Placing my first foot on, I felt it already starting to slide off. "Be careful Mai!" Senji had his hands around his mouth and was 'cheering me on' the best way he knew how. People, you have never seen a half blind girl run any faster! I was at the very last step when my foot slid off the log. Closing my eye I prepared for the worst, for the flames to lick at my skin and for the heat to murder me from the outside in.

"What part of be careful don't you get?" I heard Senji chuckle out. By some crazy act, he managed to grab my hand and was now holding me over the fire. Hauling me up we both watched as Kozuji ran across the log.

"Well, turns out you two are better than I gave your credit for. We'll see how that ends in the final round." He jogged past us and I had to urge to not spear him where he stood. Senji crossed his arms and glared at the disappearing man going up the stairs. "No respect. Come on, the final stage is up the stairs."

"Yea. By the way, how do you win the race? I mean, what's the final stage?" I asked him while running up the stairs. He didn't seem too pleased about the whole thing and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. We topped the stairs where a waiting Kozuji was, looking gloomy as ever.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen! We've reached the final stage of the dog race! Last man standing with the deadman ball in their hands win! Losers will suffer a hardy defeat! Let the game begin!" The announcer said, once again making the audience go wild with excitement and suspense. They obviously had no idea the pain that this was about to cause.

"Get ready Mai, and whatever you do, if I fall don't try to be a hero. I'll be fine." I heard Senji whisper into my ear. Good think Kozuji didn't notice, otherwise he would have raised the roof about it, especially with my luck recently.

"Players set? Go!" A lady tossed a black ball with a white face into the air and then the game was on. It only took me a matter of seconds to realize what was going on, even before the first tile fell. But Senji, how will you possibly survive the fall? I mean have you seen the spikes down there?

The ball bounced slightly and I saw that it was rolling my way, but I'm not exactly the fastest person in the world and Kozuji was catching up fast. I saw Senji run up to my side and he gave a small thumbs up. "I got this, focus on the ball."

He slowed down and went to my other side where Kozuji was, and like a football star, rammed him in the side and tripped him so he couldn't get the ball. Diving, I managed to get a grab on it before Kozuji was back on his feet and hot on my tail.

"What's with the face doll, I'm not scaring you am I! You should have taken that offer earlier and none of this would be happening to you!" Oh how I wanted to break that ugly face of his, but I didn't have time to think about that, the stream of tiles I was now running on had turned red and were about to fall. Jumping to the next row I noticed that they were doing the same thing.

"Oh no!" Leaping forward as much as I could, I managed to land on a safe one, much to my satisfaction. Kozuji on the other hand, well let's say he was hanging by a thread. Five little fingers are all I saw at my feet, guess his leap wasn't as great as mine and therefore he didn't make it.

"Aren't you going to help me up!" He screamed, face full of fear. But who wouldn't be scared, I mean that was a lot of pain waiting below to plunge into you like a thousand knives. I did feel kind of bad for him, but a quick flash of the earlier things he's said and done made me forget those feelings faster than I could blink.

"Why would she do that? Not like she owes you anything." A giant foot came down hard on Kozujis fingers, and he screamed out. Senji twisted his foot on his fingers in a most hurtful way. "Why would she help someone who hit on her when they didn't even know her? Besides, she's taken remember?"

"Ha! Going out with someone like you, she sounds like a-" Sorry to say that our dear Kozuji didn't get to finish that due to my foot to his face. I don't know what he was going to call me and I sure didn't want to hear it. Oh well, his screams and groans tell me that he got what was coming to him since the moment he entered this race.

"Alright, now it's just the two of us." I said, gripping the ball to my chest. If Senji has to fall into that, that pit! Then I don't even want to win! It's not worth it! "Senji, if you falling is what it takes for me to win then-"

He slapped his hand over my mouth again and gave off an annoyed sigh. "How many times am I going to have to say this? It's alright, I'm a deadman remember? I'm not going to die. I'll meet you back in the room, see you." A sharp grin etched itself across his face before he did the unthinkable.

"Senji! SENJI!" I screamed.

"Look at that folks! It seems that number twenty eight jumped on purpose! That makes number thirteen the winner of a sum of one hundred, thousand cast points!" Blared the announcer. Yes I was happy that I won, but I would be happier if Senji was ok.

Little time I had before the tile I was on turned red and started to give way. I jumped to another and glanced down at the pit, looking for any sign that he was alive. Any sign that he had made it and was alright. "What the? I can't believe this!" I whispered to myself. Just where does he learn to do these things?

From the corner of my eye, I saw him, and he was fine! He managed to grab two spikes with his hands while his feet rested on two behind him. He managed to get onto one solitary pole before shimmying his way down to safety. I saw the referee flagging me down from across the field and I jumped on the available tiles over to her, handing her back the deadman ball.

"Congrats kid, here you go." She said while handing me what I could describe best as a credit card. I took it greedily and stuffed it into my pocket before racing down the stairs in a hurry. I have to get back to the room, and Senji you better be there. You scared the living daylights out of me! Oh, you just wait until I find you.


	5. Chapter 5

Hello my lovlies~ Here we are with another chappie. Sad to say that we haven't gotten to the fight between Crow and Hummingbird yet, but I can assure you it will be in either the next one or the one after. :) So without further interruption, chappie five of Peacock! Remember don't be a reader and not a reviewer! Reviews are life I tell you~

* * *

After my visit to the doctor, I bid her ado and set out to find Senji. Stomping through the halls I saw Ganta coming out of his room and he looked at me happily, face of joy and eyes free from all worry. "Mai! You made it! I watched the whole thing, good thing Senji was there huh?" Giving off a goofy grin, he gave me a hug around my waist while I placed a hand on top of his head and ruffled his hair slightly.

"Speaking of Senji, you don't know where he is do you? I kind of had to get my shoulder bandaged up from that stupid arrow." I said, letting him go. He brought a finger to his chin for a moment before shrugging his shoulders.

"Last I saw, he was heading back to your room. He should still be there unless he went to work out or something." I gave him a smile and patted his head once more. "Thanks Ganta. We should get together tonight to watch his match! Here, tell Shiro I saved it just for her." Tossing him the small bean bun, I made my way to our room. Yes I was finally learning my way around; it was the best feeling ever!

As I made my way to the door I opened it up, ready to give him a piece of my mind. Sadly for me, he was in the shower and my rehearsed yelling would have to wait. So sad for me. "Oh you just wait until you are out of that shower!" Plopping myself down on the bed, I grabbed the remote and started flipping through the channels bordly.

After around fifteen minutes the door to the bathroom opened and then it was on. People I didn't even turn off the tv. Instead I grabbed a pillow and before he could even take the towel from around his shoulder, flung it at him and hit him right in the face!

"W-What the! Mai what was that-" I silenced him with the other pillow, flinging it at him as well. He stood there stunned from my strange actions and therefore wasn't able to really do anything.

"Why's you do that! You could have died Senji! Y-You could have been impaled by those stupid spikes!" I yelled. He stared at me slack jawed and eyebrows arched for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter.

"You have to toughen up Mai! I'm fine see!" Walking past me, he went to the dresser to get his coat and I on the other hand picked up one of the pillows and began to repeatedly hit him on the back with it.

"That's not the point you...you stupid! You had me worried sick!" I hit him a few more times, finally getting out all my pent up frustration, and threw the pillow to the side. He turned around after slipping on his coat and had a face that I couldn't really read. It wasn't angry or sad, it wasn't happy or confused. It just...blank.

"I had you worried sick? Funny, I've never had anyone really worry about me before." His small moment of disbelief turned into that of a fit. "You see what this is? This is pay back for teasing me earlier. The tables have turned on you Mai. You know, I'm starting to think that you like me now."

Crimson red, flashed onto my cheeks quickly, giving him the perfect opportunity to call me out on it. "What's the matter Mai? I'm not embarrassing you am I?" Oh this man... he even went so far as to flip me on the end of my nose. Not like that was going to help me on anything.

"Y-You...I...I'm going shopping." I made my way to the door, opening it up. Not before hearing him laugh and throw a pillow at me though. As I made my way to the cast point store of G-block, I tried desperately to control the rising color to my face.

"Oh please, what am I even getting worked up over?" As I rounded a corner, I accidently bumped into someone. "Oh excuse me, I'm sorry." I said quickly, hoping that these deadman would have a heart and not go berserk on me.

"Mai! Ganta gave me the bean bun! It was so yummy!" She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around my waist, giving me a hug. It made me forget about my previous problem, thank goodness. "Hey Shiro, want to help me out with something?"

"Yea sure. What do you need?" She clapped her hands together and began to bounce up and down on her tippy toes. Such an easily excited girl she was. But I swear I remember her from somewhere. I'll have to ask Ganta about it later, maybe he'll remember.

"I need to get a few things from the cast point store. Clothes, maybe an extra bed, you know. Since me and Senji are having to share a room and all I mean."

"Shopping with Mai! Oh it's going to be so much fun! Come on, we better get started before his match tonight!" She grabbed my hand and drug me the rest of the way to the store. As we entered I saw a few faces that kind of looked familiar and a lot that didn't.

"Come on Mai! The clothes are this way!" We walked over to the women's section of the clothes and Shiro immediately pulled out a cute little dress, holding it in front of me to see how it would look. "Oh Mai that's so cute!" She said.

Indeed it was rather cute, even if it was a light pastel pink. It was a spaghetti strap and flowed out around the bottom. Around the waist was a small belt and in the middle of the belt was an emerald green jewel. "So are you going to try it on?" She asked quickly, eyes already sparkling with joy and excitement.

"Sure, might as well. Pants can be so bothersome at times you know?" Taking the dress, I made my way over to the small fitting room and tried it on. Actually, I was quite pleased with it. It was loose around the bottom and hugged me in all the right places. Not to mention it was really comfortable. Walking out from the tent I noticed a few things. One, Shiro looked like she was about to faint from sheer happiness. Two, Ganta had appeared and also seemed pleased because of the smile on his face. And three, Mr. Tamaki had apparently decided to drop in and was now staring at me like a love sick puppy.

"I must say you clean up nice Peacock. Even with that hideous eye patch you're still ravishing." Before I could give him a snappy comeback and a good chunk of what I thought, he turned on his heel and left laughing.

"He is so strange." I muttered out. "So Ganta, what do you think?" I asked, giving a small twirl also, just so he could get the full effect. He and Shiro had taken refuge on a small red couch in front of the fitting room. "I think it looks good on you Mai. You should get it if it's not too much."

"Shoot! I didn't even think about that!" Looking down, I grabbed various pieces of the dress, searching for the price tag or something. "It says that it's a thousand cast points. I guess that's not to awful bad." Turning around, I went and put my regular clothes back on. Once exiting the room I turned to Shiro.

"Hey Shiro, you wouldn't mind holding this for a few minutes would you. I'm going to grab a basket or something a pick up a few things. I promise it won't take long."

"Okay! Me and Ganta can pick you out some more clothes for when you get back!" I couldn't help but let a smile be etched onto my face. She was such a high spirited girl. I don't even think that I've seen her without a smile of a certain twinkle in her eyes.

"Thanks guys. I promise that it won't take long." Making my way back to the entrance, I grabbed a small basket and went over to the grandest part of this store. Women's underwear! Oh even the name sounds amazing!

"Finally. As soon as I get back to the room, I'm changing out of these nasty things and throwing them away forever!" Entering the section I began to browse around before my shoulders was suddenly grasped, making me jump slightly from the sudden contact.

"Shopping around for some lingerie are we? Wonder how Crow would feel about something like this?" Tamaki had decided to come over and annoy me again. He grabbed on of the more revealing bras and threw it into my basket.

"What are you doing! I can pick out my own underwear you know. And it's not for him! Besides he'd have a heart attack now will you just leave me alone!" Grabbing the revealing thing I flung it at his face before going off to another section, hoping he would get the picture. But did he? I'm afraid not. Instead he followed me around while I search for my personal clothes.

"Oh, you thought about it then. Naughty thing considering you'll have to go back to that room. Now all this is going to be swimming around in your head and you'll be nothing but a pile of putty around hi-" He stopped his talking in an instant and instead his eyes followed the thin stream on blood back to my index finger.

"You'll be a pile of putty if you don't leave me alone. Senji and I are friends, and you and I are nothing. Now go away." He gave me a glare and walked away for the second time today. At least he was out of my hair for now and I can get back to my shopping. "Finally, now I can hurry and get back to Shiro.

I wondered around for a few minutes, grabbing all the appropriate items, including a few sports bras to sleep in, and made my way back to the couch in front of the fitting room. What I found though will forever be imprinted in my brain though. Clothes were stacked to the ceiling and Shiro was running around the store, throwing another piece on as she went by.

"Mai! Look what me and Ganta found for you!" She looked around for said person but he was nowhere to be found.

"Umm, Shiro, where's Ganta at?" I looked all around the store, including in the fitting room in case he was trying something on, but I found nothing. She placed a mitted hand to her chin and looked thoughtful. "I was handing him all these clothes to hold but he must have run off somewhere. I wonder where he could be." She said, glancing around the store, just as I did only moment ago.

Standing there I looked at the clothes, hoping that maybe they would give me some kind of sign...and they did. "Ganta! Oh my gosh! Ganta! Are you in there!" Frantically, I began throwing clothes every which way. Poor little guy must be swallowed in there somewhere! Shiro, finally seeing what I was doing, helped me and before we knew it, Ganta burst forth from the mountain and took a much needed breath.

"S-Shiro...I think that's enough for now. Please stop giving me clothes." He said while falling back into the pile and breathing heavily. Poor guy, actually if you want to get real, poor me! I have to either try on all these clothes or talk my way out of it!

"So Mai what do you think of all the clothes!" She asked giddily. What did I think of all these clothes? I thought it was a big problem! That's what I thought.

"I think it was a very sweet notion Shiro. Thanks for, uh, picking them all out for me. I'll choose a few to get okay?" Rummaging through various pieces I found a few that I liked, aside from my dress. I found a few pairs of jean shorts, I know they came to my middle thighs but Senji will just have to learn to live with it. A few tank tops of various colors, some pajamas and a better costume for my Carnival Corpses.

The outfit I liked very much. A pair of white shorts, they also came to my middle thigh, and a flaming red shirt that was a tank top. It covered up the areas that counted and split right under my chest, flaring out in the front to my knees. As for shoes, I shall have none! Shoes would do nothing but irritate me during the fight and I would not have that happening. So there you are my new outfit for the carnival corpse.

"Thanks for helping me put back all those clothes guys. I'm going to go pay for these and head back to the room; I need Senji to help me with something. I plan on getting another bed so either of us doesn't have to sleep on the couch. Oh and we should get together tonight to watch his match." I told them, grabbing my basket and heading to the check out.

"Sure thing Mai! We should get some popcorn too!" Shiro screamed, waving her hand at me while Ganta gave her a sideways grin. Oh that girl.

"Is this all miss?" Placing my basket on the counter, she began to go through it, scanning the items and waiting for my reply.

"No I'm afraid not. How much would a twin mattress, sheets, comforter, and frame cost?" I asked her. There was no way a repeat of last night was happening. It was awkward enough. "I'm sorry miss but I don't know. It would depend on the quality of all the things you want. If you like you can come back and I'll have someone help you load it all up." She scanned the last of the items and placed them all in a bag.

"Thanks but that's alright. I have someone who can help." Pulling out my cast card I glanced at the total. "I suppose it's not that bad. Fifteen thousand points gives me eighty-five thousand left for everything. Oh yea, I need to get some candy too." Handing her the card she swiped it and thanked me for coming to the Cast Store.

"Thanks." I said while grabbing my stuff, and putting my card back into my pocket. I exited the store and made my way back to the room. As I opened the door I saw Senji on the bed watching some tv and munching on what I believed to be a candy bar. Actually I don't know what it was, but he was making it look darn good.

"Man, what all did you buy?" He said, finishing the last of whatever he was eating and looking through all my stuff, but immediatly shoving it all back with a red face. Of course the first thing he grabbed would be a set of lacy underwear.

"That's what you get for snooping silly. Actually I need your help real quick. I'm going to buy a mattress and a frame so we don't have to share. Think you can help me carry it back and maybe put it together?" I asked while opening up the dresser, an empty drawer, and putting all my new clothes in. They filled it to the brim, underwear and all! Throwing the bags into the trash I turned and looked at him.

"Yea I can do that. Besides, we got a little time before the match starts; it's a good way to kill the time." He said heading for the door. But wait! A though just occurred; I now have fresher clothes and fresh underwear! What am I doing! I can shower!

"Wait, before we go I really want to change out these clothes and take a shower. So sit tight for about fifteen minutes and I'll be right out!" I opened up the drawer once more and pulled out some of my shorts and a tank top, as well as some new under garments.

Heading into the shower, I finished as fast as I could. Senjis match would start at nightfall, or about nine. It was five now and lord only knows how long it would take us to put together a frame.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello my lovlies~ Here we are with another chappie of Peacock. Very exciting, yes I know. Sorry for the later than usualy update, the stress of college is murdering me! So wish me luck because I start this month! *woo hoo fanfare* Thank you! Remember be a reader? Be a reviewer! And enjoy! :)

* * *

"Ok, find the board that has a big A on it." I said while looking at the instructions carefully. I had chosen a bed that was rather complex and had a lot of parts to it. A headboard/shelf, and on the bottom a few drawers would pull out. All in all there were screws, nails, rollers and many more complicated things that definitely needed instructions.

"Eh, who needs that? You give me a few minutes and I'll have this frame together in no time." He said rather cockily, showing off a sharp smirk of confidence. He grabbed the first board and sat down on the floor, well, what part of the floor he could. Parts were scattered everywhere! Except the mattress. It was on top of his bed and on top of that was me, sitting there and enjoying the show.

"You sure you don't want any help? I have the instructions." I said, waving said piece of paper in his face and giggling as he glared at me and then the paper. If only looks could kill. "I do not need any help. Why don't you go and talk to your brother or something, I'll have it by then." He said while scratching the top of his head slightly and looking from piece to piece.

"Actually I do need to go shopping for a few more things." I pondered, tapping my chin thoughtfully. But I couldn't just leave him here to put something of mine together. That would be rude and mean! I mean it was mine after all; the least I could do was try and help him, even if he didn't want it. "No, I think I'll stay here, it's the least I can do."

In one swift movement I felt myself being lifted up. "Wha- hey put me down Senji! What are you doing!" He walked over and opened the door, setting me outside in the hallway roughly. "What's you're problem!" I yelled, giving him a small angry face, I wasn't expecting that. He was fine a minute ago, now it's like he's on some strange mood problem. Must be that time of the month for him.

"Go shopping! I'll have it done by the time you get back!" He said, eye twitching slightly in annoyance. Slamming the door I heard him mumble out several colorful words from the other side. A small sigh slipped from my mouth and was replaced with a smile. Senji, look at you. Getting angry at a frame.

"Heh, you're funny. I do think that you'll need this though, even if you claim you don't." I whispered out. Squatting down a little, I slid the instructions under the door and headed off toward Gantas room. Apparently we were having a party while watching Senjis Carnival Corpse tonight and Shiro begged me to go shopping with her. I'm not sure on what all she wants but apparently it's a lot. As I made my way down to his room I saw that the door was open and the light was on.

"Ganta, you ok? What's wrong?" He was lying on his bed with his hand on his stomach. His face was twisted with pain and worry immediately swept over him. "Ganta!" Rushing over I put a hand on his forehead and felt that he was burning up. Sweat was dripping down his neck and he was letting off small moans of displeasure.

"Sis, I-I don't feel so good. I feel like I'm about to-move." He shot off the bed and ran toward his bathroom, bending over the toilet bowl and throwing up whatever he recently ate. I of course followed and rubbed his back to try and soothe him to the best of my abilities.

"Alright, come on. Let's get you to the doctor and see what's up." I grunted, slinging his arm around my neck and hauling him to his feet, after of course wiping his mouth with a cloth I found under the sink. "I can walk by myself sis." He said, well more like slurred out.

"Oh please, you're about to fall over as it is. Just try and stay up, it's not that far away." I asked while struggling slightly. I'm not exactly what you would call Wonder Woman, my strength is a little on the down side.

We made it to the door just as Shiro walked in. Her mitted hand dropped a small cookie and she rushed over to us, putting her hands on the side of his head. "Ganta! What's wrong with Ganta!" She yelled, tears already threatening to spill over from her widened red eyes.

"Help me out here Shiro, get his other side." She immediatly did as I said and we continued our way over to the doctor. After a few more moment of walking I noticed that my and Senjis door burst open and a small victory yell rang through the hall. Heh must have gotten the frame together.

"Alright! Finally!" Senji exited the room with a larger than life smile on his face, and instructions in his hand. See, I told you that you would need them. "Hey Mai. What's up with Woodpecker?" He asked, hiding the instructions behind his back quickly. If I wasn't worried sick about my only brother I would have taken the opportunity to tease him about it. Told you that you would end up needing them.

"I don't know. He's scorching and just threw up a few minutes ago. I'm trying to get him to the doctor before it happens again." Seeing that we were struggling with his dead weight, Senji scooped up Ganta and began to walk to the doctor's office with Shiro and me right behind him.

"Here, I'll help you out. You feeling that bad Woodpecker?" Senji said, now directing his attention to the small boy in his arms. He was replied with a groan and Ganta slapped his hand over his face, like he was about to puke again. Senji on the other hand, having a face that probably only came once in a life time, took off in a dead run, leaving me and poor Shiro behind.

"Oh no, you're not blowing chunks on me!" Shiro and I quickly followed and ended up in the doctor's office with Ganta defiling some poor trashcan. Rei was rubbing his back like I had before and a small twinge of fear rushed through me just seeing her. I know she was just doing her job that day but still, I can't get her sadistic look out of my mind. Not to mention the too clean smell of disinfectant, antibiotics, and overall cleanliness wasn't helping that much.

"Ganta, when you're done with the trashcan come and sit on the bed so I can see what's wrong." She said while adjusting her glasses slightly. They glinted off the light and gave her a slight odd look. One that I didn't favor at all. Senji, noticing my discomfort, nudged me on the side a little in a small reassurance.

"O-Ok." He wiped his mouth with the sleeve of his jacket and then, with the help of Senji, sat on the tall hospital bed. "Alright, I'm here."

"Alright Ganta, open up." He did as she asked and she shoved a glass thermometer in his mouth. Shiro, Senji and I waited patiently and she removed it minutes later, looking at the small red line within. "Ok, what have you been experiencing and for how long?"

Ganta lay back on the bed and slung an arm over his forehead. "I've been throwing up since this morning, and my stomach had been killing me. I've also been feeling kind of nauseas lately."

Rei adjusted her glasses once more before going over to a large cabinet and thumbing through a bunch of pill bottles. "Have you had diarrhea as well?" His face flushed slightly, but who could blame him. I mean I wouldn't want to talk about it so why would he.

"Yea I have." He mumbled out. She chuckled and handed him a small bottle of pills. "No need to be shy Ganta we've all been through it at some point on our life. Sound like you have a small touch of the stomach flu. Take those to reduce the vomiting, and try to keep hydrated by drinking water or some sports drinks. But no milk, ok? You should be fine in a few days." She said as a matter of factly.

"But how did he get it? I mean isn't it contagious?" Shiro asked while bringing her hands to cover her mouth. She obviously didn't want to get it as well.

"There's many ways but the most likely, considering where you're at here in Deadman Wonderland, is Salmonella. Though I would recommend keeping your distance, this thing can spread easily and the last thing I want is a swarm of Deadman knocking on my door."

"Salmonella! That's doesn't really make me feel any better you know!" Ganta yelled, but regretted it immediatly. He grabbed his stomach and lay back down, during the surprise he shot up from the bed.

"Calm down, have you eaten any eggs recently?" She asked while going back over to the panty and shutting it with a small click. We all glanced at Ganta who now had a small thoughtful face. "Come to think of it I had some eggs for breakfast a few days ago. Think they were infected?"

"Obviously kid or we all wouldn't be here. Don't sweat it; you'll be better in no time." Senji went over and gave him a small fist pump, which Ganta gladly returned. "Come on, I'll help you to your room." He picked up Ganta again and we all headed back toward his room. At least he wasn't worried about getting sick as well.

Though before I managed to get out the door, I felt a delicate hand being placed upon my shoulder. "Mai, how's your eye doing. Is it healing up nicely?" She asked, removing her hand the moment she felt me tense beneath her.

"Yea, it's healing up as good as it can I guess. Look I better be getting to Ganta. I take it he needs to rest for a few days?" I really didn't want to spend unnecessary time with this woman. She was nice and all but I still can't shake that horrible feeling I get when I'm around her.

She lit a cigarette and held it between her fingers, propping her elbow up on her hip. "Yes, he needs plenty of fluids and needs to stay in bed until he is feeling better. The only exceptions are showers, and using the bathroom. Other than that he needs to stay down and resting."

She gave me a small smile before I bolted out the door, catching up to my small posse of strange outcasts. Senji set Ganta down in his bed and I immediatly came over and covered him up. "You'll be better in no time, but I really think that we should get some distance. I mean this stuff is contagious." I said, noting the way Shiro put her hands over her mouth again.

"Oh no! Ganta won't be able to come to the party with us tonight! That makes Shiro very sad!" Senji, hearing the words party and wondering why he wasn't invited, asked, "Party? What party?"

"We were all going to watch your match tonight while pigging out with some popcorn and stuff, but now Gantas sick." I went into the bathroom and got him a cold, damp cloth, placing it over his forehead gently. Maybe it would help bring the fever down.

"It's alright guys. I'll probably just go to sleep; you guys can hang out and watch it. Besides, I'm sure they'll be more of them, guaranteed." Ganta said. I remember him taking two of those pills that Rei gave him, must make him drowsy.

Before anyone could get another word out, the door to Gantas room slid open and a guard walked in. "Ah, there you are Crow. I've come to collect you for your Carnival Corpse. Please follow me."

"Aw man, at a time like this, whatever. Listen here, I better hear your cheering from the arena, you got that!" He flashed us a sharp smirk and a small wink before heading off to the match. Looking down at Ganta I noticed that he was already half asleep. I bent down and placed a loving kiss to his forehead.

"Go to sleep Ganta, try and sleep this bug off. I'll be in here to check on you before I go to bed and before you wake up in the morning. I'll bring you something to eat and drink later ok?" He gave off an annoyed grunt and I took that as an ok and leave me in peace. "Come on Shiro, we'll crash in my room and get things ready."

"Okay, goodnight Ganta!" She half yelled and half whispered. We made out way back to the shared room of Senji and me. When I walked in, I had to literally stop and look. Not only had the frame been put together, but the sheets and covers were on it and made to perfection! Not to mention he had actually braved the fear of my clothes and put them into the bottom drawers for me!

"Aww, you're so sweet Senji." Shiro immediately had a large grin etched on her face and she grabbed my hands, pulling me down onto my bed. "Oooooohhhhhhh you like him, don't you Mai! Mai likes a boy! Mai likes a boy! Mai likes a boy!" She chanted while hopping up and down on my new bed. She even went so far as to hop from my bed and over the small space to Senjis.

I most definitely didn't mean to say that out loud. "W-wait Shiro! That's not it! Please stop screaming that! Others will hear you!" A small tinge of red spread to my face, making Shiro stop all of her crazy movements. She bounced over to me and sat down beside me, placing her mitted hand on top of my head and smiled a little.

"It's ok Mai, I won't tell anyone, I promise." Wow, that was probably the most seriously I had ever seen her. But what do I have to hide? I mean, yes, Senjis a nice looking fellow, but his and mine relationship is far from being anything romantic...right?

"Now come on Mai! The match is going to start any minute now! Look I even brought some food and drinks!" I'm not really sure where these things came from, and I'm not sure how I didn't notice her bringing them in, but before me were a few bags filled with numerous drinks and treats. Cookies, chips, popcorn, sodas, candies, everything!

"Shiro, where did you get all of this? And how did you get it in here without me noticing?" I asked her while looking through the room for the remote. Senji, you were the last one to have it! Couldn't you of put it somewhere easy to spot! "Ah ha! Found it! I'll take his bed, because heaven forbid you spill something on it." She tossed me a soda and I grabbed a small bag of chips, then flipping on the tv to the match.

"This is going to be so much fun Mai! I wish Ganta was here though. But it's ok; he's sleeping and getting better so we're fine!" She giggled out, sitting cross-legged on my bed. We watched intensely as both of the cages were lowered to the ground slowly, talk about suspense. You know come to think of it, I have never seen Senjis branch of sin before. I wonder what it's like.

_"Laaaadies and Geeentlemen! The moment you have all been waiting for! Here are your competitors for tonight's match! We have Hummingbird verses Crow! Now, let's not stall any longer! Deadmen gooooooooooooo!"_

Popping open the tab to my drink, I laid flat on my stomach and stared up at the tv. His opponent seemed to be a shy girl, very cute in my opinion. But I know for a fact that I have been wrong on several occasions and this was definitely one of them.

Her cute little face twisted into that of some strange sadistic killer! Yanking the earrings from her ears, I watched as blood flowed freely and shot over to him, giving him a small scratch on his cheek.

_"Heh, not bad! But how about this!" _I watched as he crossed his arms and then sliced them with, what I guessed to be his rings. Two sharp blades protruded from his arms and he stood in a stance, ready to take on whatever she had to offer.

"Look Mai! He's really going to get her now!" Shiro laughed out, munching away on some cookies. She was getting crumbs everywhere on my new bed, but it was nothing I couldn't brush off into the trashcan.

My eyes were glued to the screen and Senji lunged toward this Hummingbird girl with great speed and accuracy. She was a very evasive mover, but he managed to keep up with her no matter where she went. She was laughing hysterically and was starting to say some very...inappropriate...things. Surprisingly enough, her way of speaking wasn't making him all mushy and embarrassed. Actually, I say it fueled his desire to win even more.

In a swift movement, he caught her in a misstep and slashed at her chest, causing a large gash to appear from her shoulder to her hip. She fell down to the ground, clutching at her ripped clothes and screaming like a child from the pain.

_"Y-You bas-"_ She coughed up a considerable amount of blood and fell unconscious moments later. As the medical team rushed in, he stepped to the side and the announcers blared at his success.

"Mai did you see him! He was so cool no wonder you like him so much!" She devoured another cookie and gathered up all the stuff she had brought, cramming it into a bag before hopping toward the door. "I'm going to check on Ganta, and then I'm going to sleep. All this fun has made me very sleepy! Goodnight Mai!" She bounced out of the room and a small chuckle slipped from me as I let my head fall.

"Goodnight Shiro." Letting my eyes droop a bit, I thought that perhaps a small nap before actually heading to bed wouldn't be such a bad idea. I mean Shiro went to check on Ganta and surely she would come rushing if she thought anything was remotely wrong, so what's the harm in a small power nap.

Senji's sure to wake me up and make me move to the other bed, right? Yea, a power nap sounds pretty darn good. "Only for...a few...minutes." As I let a darkness overtake me, I fell into a blissful sleep, and dang it, it felt pretty good.

I must have been out like a light because I failed to hear the door opening and the large foot steps coming toward me. "Hmph, out like a light aren't you?" Yes, that would be the right term for my predicament at the moment.

"Dang, who murdered your bed. There are crumbs everywhere, not to mention it looks like someone spilled something on it. At least mines clean." Unknowing to my knowledge he began to change out of his sweaty clothes and, after the shortest shower of a lifetime, he changed into simple black sweats to sleep in.

"Alright, even I wouldn't sleep in some coke-stained crumb-filled bed." He whispered out while scooping me up gently. Pulling the covers back with his feet, he laid me down against the wall and put a pillow under my head. If only I was awake to see him displaying such actions.

He got in and covered us up, making me immediatly snuggle into whatever I came in contact with. As a body heated up from being shy, he managed a small chuckle. "Yea, yea, you're welcome."


End file.
